Husband And Wife Perfect In Paris

The dust may have barely settled on Sunday's (9 April) Paris Marathon, but you can already register for next year's race. The 2017 event will be held on 8 April and entries are available at the Paris Marathon website.

Husband and wife Paul Lonyangata and Purity Rionoripo displayed their power couple credentials by claiming victories in the men’s and women’s races on Sunday. Rionoripo broke the women’s course record with a time of 2:20:55, and Lonyangata clocked 2:06:10 to take the men’s title.

The race, now in its 41st year, saw runners passing by some of Paris’s most iconic landmarks, including Place de la Concorde, Notre-Dame, the Louvre, Bastille and the Eiffel Tower, before finishing on Avenue Foch in view of the Arc de Triomphe.

The men’s race proved an open affair with seven competitors still in contention at the 30k mark. Kenyan Stephen Chebogut, who holds a 2:05:52 career best, raced to the front to test his opponents. Then, a kilometre later, Lonyangata made his move to break up the lead pack behind him. Solomon Yego, Yitayal Atnafu, and Chebogut managed to stay with him but Abayneh Ayele and Asbel Kipsang struggled to keep up. With four kilometres remaining, Lonyangata again notched up the pace, which Chebogut was unable to match. It eventually proved too much for Atnafu as well, as Lonyangata extended his lead to cross the finish line 1:07 faster than his previous best.

The women’s race was also a tight affair. It was clear from the halfway checkpoint that it was going to produce a winning time well within the 2:21:06 course record. There was a hotly contested battle between the Kenyan trio of 2016 winner Visiline Jekpesho, Agnes Barsosio, and Rionoripo, with the latter managing to break away in the final kilometre to finish fastest female and also break the course record by 11 seconds.

A number of Brits made the trip across the channel for the race, including runABC’s Alex Osborne.

He commented afterwards: “There were so many bands out on the course – a real carnival atmosphere! The public support is phenomenal all the way round. The streets are packed. At some points the crowd is so close you can almost high-five on both sides. The support over the last km was just immense. It really drags you round and over the finish.”

For full results, visit our race listings page. Sports Tours International will be offering various travel packages for next year’s race. For more information visit their website.